Inside
by ducky-doll
Summary: *Ch 5* Oliver Wood's main love in life is Quidditch however when a chance meeting with a strange Slytherin occurs during a week away at Hogsmeade, everything changes. Please r/r
1. Chapter One

"Inside"

Author's Note: This fic is going to be a little darker than my usual writing so it's more of a challenge for me. It also features a new character, thanks to Faith, named Kali. Please don't think that this is a Mary-Sue, as I'm sure that's how your initial thoughts may wander, Kali is a 100% fictional piece and definitely nothing like myself. Please be patient with this fic, I am not sure whether I am going to be able to write chapters as fast I have done previously. I am really looking forward to your comments, thank you.

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Chapter One...

A week away in Hogsmeade was the ideal dream for any student at Hogwarts. Unfortunately for some, it was an opportunity given only to those in their seventh and final year of schooling and something that had to be earnt and deserved, which immediately cancelled some people's name off the list.

Oliver Wood sat in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, prodding little figures around a miniature sized Quidditch pitch.

"Hello?" he could hear somebody faintly calling in the distance.

Trying to shut the noise out, he concentrated harder on his tactics and a slightly frown appeared on his face.

"Hello! Earth to Oliver!" It was no use. Whoever it was was being very persistant. He put down his wand and looked up.

"Merlin's beard Wood, are you deaf or something?" said Professor McGonagall, a look of frustration on her face.

Oliver gulped. He hadn't known it was her...

"Sorry Professor," he said. "I was concentrating rather hard."

"Yes, I could see that," she replied. "Do you have a moment please?"

It was not often that Professor McGonagall asked for a moment, rather she just demanded it. That meant she must have been in a good mood and Oliver nodded eagerly, not wanting to upset his chances of the Hogsmeade week away.

"Wood, one of your Quidditch players was beaten up last night," she said in a hushed voice, keeping it low so nobody around could hear.

Oliver's felt his face turn beet red. Steam was surely coming out of his ears. "Who?"

"Katie Bell."

He felt his jaw drop. For some reason he had expected it to have been one of the boys, certainly not a girl and certainly not Katie. She wasn't exactly the fighting sort of type. 

"By who?" he gasped in horror.

"A Slytherin."

Oliver gritted his teeth as hard as he could without breaking them. Slytherin. Naturally. Oliver had never got along with the Slytherin house and the thought of one of their oversized, muscles instead of brains, hot tempered boys bashing up one of the best Chasers he had ever seen was more than he could bear.

"Calm down Oliver," Professor McGonagall said, sensing his anger. "Katie is fine, she has a few bruises but she will be fine for training tomorrow morning."

He froze. What did she mean 'she will be fine for training tomorrow'? Is that how everyone perceived him? That the only thing he cared about was whether Katie'd show for training? Did people think he didn't care about his team's wellbeing?

"Good to hear," he said slowly. "Which Slytherin was it?" he asked, many names and faces running through his head starting with Marcus Flint, their Quidditch Captain. He knew for a fact that Flint hated Katie because she had scored twenty goals in their last match. He also knew Flint would do anything to prevent Katie playing again. Including beating her up. 

It made Oliver particularly mad that a boy would hit a girl. But he was wrong. Totally wrong.

"Her name is Kali Ravenell. She's a seventh year like you," said Professor McGonagall.

"What? A girl?" Oliver spat out.

"Yes," she answered, sounding surprised at Oliver's surprise. She saw the look on his face and could practically read his mind. "Now don't go doing anything stupid Wood," she warned. "If I hear of you causing any disturbance to the Slytherins then I will have no choice but to remove the privelages of the Hogsmeade week."

"But... but.... how could they get away with something like that, the animal?" he said.

"Kali has not 'got away' with anything. She has been punished and has been dealt with the proper way. I just thought that as Captain you should have been made aware of this situation."

As Captain? What about as friend? Oliver sighed but said nothing. If Professor McGonagall didn't want him to have a good talking to Kali than why would she have bothered telling him? And nobody would get away with harming a fellow Gryffindor, especially not a slimy Slytherin.

* * * * *

The Slytherin common room wasn't hard to find considering Oliver had been out the front of it many times. He stood in front of the painting of a large talking sea serpent and waited for one of the Slytherins to either walk in or walk out.

"Ahh... a Gryffindor... " hissed the serpent. "What are you doing around thissss part of Hogwartsss?"

"Looking for somebody," Oliver replied, trying not to show his uncomfortableness at being around this thing.

"Oi, coming to seek out the opposition eh?" said a voice from behind Wood. He turned around to find one of the younger Slytherin's standing behind him, accompanied by two rather stupid looking friends.

"Malfoy," nodded Wood.

"Wood," nodded Malfoy.

Draco had been scared of Oliver ever since he had nearly broken his nose with his broomstick a couple of years earlier. He was over the initial fear but didn't like to push his luck. So instead of throwing the insults at him, Draco was polite.

"I'm looking for a Slytherin girl," stated Oliver, knowing he had the upper hand.

"Yeah who?" Draco narrowed his eyes.

"A girl called Kali Ravenell, know her?" Oliver asked. He caught the quick change of expression on Draco's face before he hardened up again. 

"Yeah, I've seen her around. Why do you need her?"

"I need to talk to her about something."

"I see. Well, she's got really long black hair and dark eyes. She's kind of pretty if you're into that kind of... hey, there she is now!" Draco pointed at a girl who was emerging from the painting hole.

"Hey you!" shouted Oliver, pointing directly at Kali. 

Draco decided there and then was the perfect time to make a get away so he dragged his dopey friends away with him, leaving Oliver alone with this Kali girl.

"Who are you?" she asked, stepping closer towards him.

Oliver couldn't help but be surprised at how, dainty, this girl was. He had been expecting her to be as big and rough looking as most of the other Slytherins but she was different. She was shorter than he had expected, rather thing, her hair was very shiny and longer than he'd imagined and well, she was quite pretty.

But that did not excuse the fact she'd hit Katie.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a corner of the hallway.

"Hey!" she yelped, almost desperately. "Let go of me!" she pleaded but Oliver was very strong.

"How dare you!" he said right in her face, his voice low but cold and very threatening.

Kali was breathing heavily and her pale face was getting flushed. "Is this about that Katie girl?" she asked, her voice strong but scared.

"Why did you do it?" Oliver demanded, ignoring her question.

"Because she deserved it," was Kali's response.

Oliver pushed her harder against the stone wall, showing temper he never realised he had. Kali began to whimper slightly and Oliver relaxed his grip a bit and pulled her away from the wall. What was he? A monster? He was the one who had gone nuts when he thought a boy had hit Katie and now he was the one hurting Kali.

"She didn't deserve it, Katie is a magnificent girl and would never do anything to deserve being hit," he hissed in her ear.

Kali took a deep breath, swallowed and regained her composure. "Then you obviously don't know her as well as you thought you did. Now please, I have to get going."

With that, she grabbed the sleeve of her black robes out of Oliver's grasp and started to walk away from him, feeling very frightened and very hurt but not letting any of it show. 

"What did she do?" she heard Oliver call from behind but she pretended she hadn't heard him.

It wasn't until she was a good two hundred metres away that she let herself burst into a full speed sprint into the closest toilets where she locked herself in a cubicle and let the tears she'd been fighting back escape.


	2. Chapter Two

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Chapter Two...

Oliver expected to see Kali around the corridors of Hogwarts that afternoon however she managed to escape his eye no matter where he went. For awhile he was quite baffled at her mysterious disappearing act but then he realised that if he'd never noticed her before, what would make him notice her now?

Kali on the other hand spent her afternoon trying to avoid Oliver's attention. She saw him wandering down a busy hallway at one stage but quickly leapt up onto the nearest stair case so he wouldn't see her. Oliver had scared her, he really had. She's seen him play in all the great Quidditch games and he was quite spectacular yet from what she'd seen of his personality, well, that was less than desirable.

What Katie had said to Kali had really hurt her. As she reached the safety of the Slytherin common room she reflected on her own behaviour and tried to justify in her head, why she'd acted the way she had.

"She threatened to tell everyone... oh goodness, what would I have done... no, she deserved everything she got..." she muttered outloud as she tried to sort through a whole stack of papers on one of the coffee tables in hope she would find her Potions homework amongst the rest of the rubbish.

"Is this that Katie Bell you're talking about?" said a familiar voice at her side.

"Draco!" Kali cried happily, giving him a quick hug. "How are you?"

"Yeah all right, Oliver Wood was looking for you before," he replied, his usual mood of selfishness and ungratefulness quickly fading, as it always did whenever he was around Kali.

"Yes, he did approach me..." said Kali, remembering how threatening he had been.

"What was the problem?" continued Draco, beginning to help her sort through the papers. The Slytherins were so messy and it was times like these that Kali wished she were a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff, after all, she'd snuck in their common rooms before and there wasn't a mess in sight. She dismissed the thought quickly though, remembering that she was a Slytherin and that she ought to be proud to be one too!

"Uh, he wanted to talk to me about Katie that's all."

Draco already knew about Katie. He had been witness to the fight and knew Kali well enough to sense she didn't want to talk about it. 

"What do you know about Wood?" Kali asked.

Draco paused. He didn't really know that much about him at all. Nothing un-Quidditch related. "He's the Gryffindor Captain, he's a Keeper, quite good too though I'd never let him know I thought that..."

"No, no," Kali interrupted. "I know all that, I have eyes too you know, but I mean is he... dangerous?" she nearly whispered.

Draco started laughing. "Ha, ha," he panted between breaths. "Wood? Dangerous?"

Kali began to feel relieved.

"Oh, except there was that one time when he nearly broke my nose with a broomstick."

Kali's face fell.

"But don't let that worry you. I'm telling you Kali, he wouldn't hurt a fly. He's one big old softie. Behind all that big macho Quidditch expert, he's totally harmless."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Somehow that didn't make her feel much better.

* * * * *

Oliver returned to the common room later after dinner that night, having given up hope of 'accidently' running into Kali again. As he ran up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, two by two, he bumped into Percy Weasley, one of his good friends.

"Where you been?" asked Percy, who looked rather short of breath after also jogging up the steps.

"Just out and about," said Oliver shortly.

"Oh... fair enough. Want to study with me? I need someone to quiz me for my Muggle Studies test tomorrow morning."

Oliver procrastinated but the softer side got the better of him. "Sure I will," he replied, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"Excellent!" cried Percy, looking genuinely ecstatic. "I'll go get my books and we can study up here!"

It wasn't often that Oliver made time to help his friends with things like studying because well, he always had Quidditch on his mind. He did reflect on this often and he did feel guilty but like most guilt-ridden things, he just couldn't help it. He began to have second thoughts as to helping Percy study as he could think of about ten thousand things that would have been more fun (including watching flobberworms eat) but there were some things that a friend just had to do. And perhaps it could be fun... maybe.

"What chapter are you doing?" Oliver asked as they made themselves comfortable on the floor.

"Ah eleven and twelve. Just working on muggle transportation. My father would be very interested in all this."

Wish I was, Oliver thought to himself but bit his tongue. After opening up Percy's book and finding a page on buses, he looked up to see whether Percy was ready for the questions.

Sure enough he was, with a newly sharpened pencil, eager look of excitement on his face, anticipation in his eyes and a parchment perched ready in his lap.

"Ahh..." Oliver was a little put off by his enthusiasm. "How do muggles locate buses?"

Percy furiously scribbled down an answer before smiling, ready for the next question.

"Buses can travel over water, true or false?"

Percy was writing down his next answer when Oliver interrupted. "This is boring Perce!" he said, as he put down the book.

Percy, looking absolutely devastated, stopped writing. "Well you're the one who volunteered to quiz me. Hey, if it's out of the question just say so and I'll go get Penelope or something."

"No, no I'm sorry Perce, really I am, it's just I have other things on my mind," apologised Oliver.

"Other things such as Quidditch?" Percy rolled his eyes.

"No, actually, it's got nothing to do with Quidditch!" snapped Oliver, really beginning to get fed up with everybody associating him purely with Quidditch and Quidditch only.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Has it got anything to do with a member of the female species?"

"Perhaps..."

Percy threw down his book too. "Well? Out with it? Who do you fancy?"

"I don't fancy anybody!"

"Really?"

"And truly. But what do you know about Kali Ravenell, she's a Slytherin."

"A Slytherin eh?"

"Percy, I don't fancy her, I just want to know what she's like. Temperament and all."

"Well, I actually have Muggle Studies with her. That's all," Percy answered, pondering.

"What's she like?" Oliver asked.

"I don't speak to her much, after all she's a Slytherin and I'm a Gryffindor." Even whilst sitting down, Percy somehow managed to puff his chest out a little bit when he said the word 'Gryffindor'. "Ah she can be quite a distraction to the class though. Always mucking around and making jokes about Professor Thudgepin. Can be quite irritating."

"Does she ever seem... violent?" asked Oliver.

"Oliver, where is this leading?" Percy replied.

"Oh, I'm just curious." He was a bad liar and the look Percy gave him showed he wasn't convinced in the slightest. "Ok, promise me you won't tell anyone this?"

"Of course."

"Kali beat up one of my chasers last night, Katie Bell."

"So it did have something to do with Quidditch after all!" Percy exploded.

"No, no, no!" protested Oliver. "I was asking merely because I was concerned about Katie's health! Great Wizards Percy, Katie as a person is more important to me than Katie as a chaser!"

"Hmm? Really?" Percy sighed.

"Really!"

"Uh-huh," he still didn't sound convinced but continued never the less. "Well, I honestly don't know much about this Kali girl except that she seems to get quite a few detentions for her misbehaviour and I don't approve of her distracting the class all the time with her... sarcastic comments and... stuff."

"Ok well then, thanks for your help Perce. I'm going to go... fly or something. Sorry I couldn't help you more with your homework, I'm sure you'll do really well anyway!" Oliver stood up and reached under his own bed for his broomstick, a beautiful and expensive new Flameblazer. 

"That's all right," replied Percy, gathering up his books. "Don't do anything stupid now Oliver."

What was with everyone? Did they all think Oliver was about to go and beat up Kali or something? He wasn't violent! Not in the slightest! But the more he thought about it as he rode through the starry sky, the more he began to scare himself. He had wanted to hit Kali so badly. He remembered nearly breaking Malfoy's nose, regardless of the fact he deserved it. He remembered shouting out things to his team like 'This isn't the time to be a gentleman Harry! Knock her off her broomstick if you have to!' 

It was time Oliver began to care more about people and their wellbeing and he swore to himself there and then that from that moment on, he would.


	3. Chapter Three

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Author's Note:

Okay, hi everyone. I owe you all a very big apology. I know I have not updated or written a fanfic for so long and I have been getting so many e-mails asking me when I was going to update something. I appreciate all the kind words you leave for me in your reviews and I love reading what you have to say.

Unfortunately for me, It has been so long since I started writing this fanfic that I have forgotten everything I had planned for it. However, I am still keen on writing it so I will continue, just making it up from scratch. I hope that's all right with you. I am as clueless as you when it comes to the characters because I lost all my files and documents I had describing my characters for this and exactly what I wanted out of them. Doh!   
I suppose the reason I haven't written is because I haven't FELT like it. I have had heaps going on in my life, things that I haven't dealt with before and it's made me feel tired and definitely un-creative.

I hope this chapter makes up for it. At least for now.

Chapter Three...

Kali looked at herself in the mirror. She studied her rather peculiar hands, so small and tiny, they looked rather fragile, almost like they'd break in half. It was hard for her to believe that these were the very hands that had hit somebody just the night before.

She ran them under some cold water and splashed her face. "Get a grip," she told her reflection. "What's wrong with you? You're acting so weird!"

Her reflection smiled evilly at her. "Yes, very weird!" she agreed.

Kali put a hand over the mirror. "Shut up, nobody asked you!"

The reflection muttered some kind of response but never the less, shut it's mouth.

Kali dried her face and slammed the bathroom door closed behind her as she made her way down to the Slytherin Common room.

She was greeted by Draco who smiled pleasantly in her direction as she fought her way through a group of first years who seemed to be arguing over the Wizards Chess set.

Waving her arms to get them out of the way she wandered over to Draco who beamed as she sat next to him.

"Hi Kali," he grinned.

"Hey Draco," replied Kali. "What are you doing?" she gestured to the big brown hardcover book he was holding.

"Trying to think of ways to kick Gryffindor's butt in the match tomorrow." He held up the book so she could see the cover.

"Ah, very smart. Any particular ideas yet?" she asked, running her tiny, fragile hands through her shiny hair.

Draco looked at the ground. "Well... no, not really... not yet! But I assure you, I will think of something, I promise you that!"

Kali chuckled. "Sure, sure you will," she baited.

Draco grinned, something he rarely did in public. "Thanks Kali," he whispered.

She froze, he was being really serious. "For what?" she asked, slightly lowering her head and her voice at the same time.

"For just being such an awesome friend to me," he replied. Though not many other students were used to Draco being so thoughtful, Kali, having known him for a very long time, was used to it.

"No Draco," she replied with a smile. "I believe I am the one who should be thankful for you." With that, she gave him a quick hug.

* * * * *

"Wood, I can't believe this!" shouted Angelina Johnson from the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

It was early the next morning and Oliver was getting the team ready for the big Quidditch match that day. So far, he'd drilled them on tactics they already knew, shovelled great amounts of food down their throats and even resorted to tying Angelina's hair back himself because he didn't think she'd done it tightly enough and that it would fly out into her face.

"What?" he asked, looking up from his breakfast. So far he had barely touched a piece. He preferred the team eating in their own common room because it was far more private and they could talk about their tactics without the others listening in.

"They cancelled the match."

"WHAT?" Oliver leapt up out of the chair, spilling crumbs and something called 'vegemite' all over himself and the carpet.

"They cancelled it. Slytherin did. Apparently Malfoy has hurt his arm so badly it's impossible for them to play!" Angelina looked just as flustered as Oliver. Though it was debatable whether this was merely from the cancellation or the fact her hair was so tight it was hurting her.

"What about the reserves?" Wood was pacing the room now, deep in thought.

"None. All sick. A 'flu' according to Snape."

"I'M SO ANGRY!" Oliver stated, banging his fist down on the nearest piece of furniture. He forgot his own strength and little bits of timber went flying.

Angelina stopped talking. The other team members froze. They hadn't quite expected that from their beloved captain. I mean, he was passionate... but not THAT passionate.

"Uh, we can kind of see that," muttered Fred, not even feeling brave enough to make a wise crack too loudly.

Nobody however, was more shocked about Oliver's outburst than himself. His hands shaking, he put them deep inside his robe pockets and shrugged.

"I'm sorry about that," he said quietly and excused himself out to the hallway.

* * * * *

Oliver shivered as he made his way through the corridors. He could hear people either side of him trying to start up conversations, all probably wanting to know his reaction to the match cancellation.

He ignored them all, he needed peace. Time to himself. He was really beginning to give himself a headache from all this thinking and pressure.

As he turned a corner, he coincidently bumped into a familiar mass of dark shiny hair.

"Oliver!" cried Kali, looking scared. She began to back away, her arms outstretched in front of her.

"Don't worry," he grumbled in reply. "I'm not going to hit you."

She hesitantly lowered them. "I guess you heard about the game huh?"

"Yes," his eyes narrowed. "Why would you stoop that low?"

"Excuse me?" Kali's eyes widened.

"I mean, if you're really that scared, just forfeit. Don't make up stupid excuses for Malfoy."

"For your information, it's serious! He really is injured!" Kali was getting very uptight about this whole situation. Draco was her bestfriend. How dare anybody doubt his honesty! Obviously, Wood didn't know him the way she did.

"Yeah whatever," he began to walk away, but Kali wouldn't let this rest.

"Come back here!" she grabbed him by the shoulders roughly and pulled him down to her eye level. Her sudden burst of strength took Oliver by surprise and he staggered back a few steps.

"You really did hit her... you certainly have the strength..."

"Shut up. Don't talk about Draco that way. You don't know anything about him!"

Their argument was getting louder and louder and they were beginning to assemble a little crowd.

"Go away!" Kali yelled at her peers.

"You too!" Oliver shot back at the Gryffindors behind him.

"This is a private conversation!" Kali spat back at what must have been her friends.

Muttering under their breath, everyone turned away, disappointed.

"What did she say to you?" Oliver demanded. He was quite taken back at her fiery Kali was when she was mad about something.

"Nothing that need concern you!"

"I don't believe you!"

"I don't care. It's something personal and if you knew anything REAL about Ms Perfect Katie Bell then maybe you'd think twice too. Now, if you don't mind, this conversation is over and I would like you to stop talking to me. Good bye!"

Kali gave him a last glare with her deep, dark eyes and turned her back on him, heading back in the direction she'd come.

Oliver sighed with exasperation and anger. Who was Kali? What did she mean by 'real'?   
  
"Crazy girl..." he muttered as he headed back to the common room. Obviously he wasn't going to get any privacy out here.


	4. Chapter Four

Author's Note: Yeah I know… I am slack. I give you all full permission to slap me. I am not even going to bother apologising for no update because there is no point. I have been writing an original story lately and it's been on my mind the whole time… I am not sure whether or not to upload it to the web or not, so let me know what you think about reading originals. 

Chapter Four...

The week away at Hogsmeade had finally come! For the past few days Kali had tried her best to put Mr Oliver Wood out of her mind. For some reason, totally unknown to her, he kept creeping back into her subconscious... even at night time. Just last night she had dreamt that he was in her dormitory about to strangle her with her own pillow. She's woken up gasping for breath and had found one of her friends Christina sitting beside her, dabbing cold water on her forehead.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked Christina, getting her breath back.

"Maybe you like him," suggested Christina, always the one to start up rumours. Suddenly Kali wished she hadn't asked.

"Or maybe not," she groaned, letting her head fall back on the pillow.

"Just put him out of your mind," Christina continued. "We're going to Hogsmeade girl, I can't believe Snape even let you go."

Kali smirked. "Yeah, well…"

"Seriously, he can be pretty harsh on us sometimes."  
  
She nodded. "I know, I was lucky. What can I say?"

"Nothing," replied Christina. "Just get some sleep okay? We've got a week of non stop fun ahead of us and you'll need as much rest as you can get."

Kali tried to smile as she dozed off again. Christina was right, really. She needed to put Oliver out of her mind completely.

* * * * *

Coaches arrived early the next morning. They were big and old fashioned and all of the Hogsmeade students looked on in wonder as they pulled up out the front of the main entrance. The coaches were all identical and each seated a dozen students.

Oliver looked around at the other sleepy students and quickly did a brief count. There were about 15 students from each house going (many had had this privelage taken off them) and that left them with… around 60 all up. Quite a large number but Oliver had no doubt in his mind that some of them would be sent home before the full week was up. He had already heard many kids discussing ways to be 'naughty'. He rolled his eyes as he walked past a bunch of giggling girls plotting ways to get into the boys' rooms.

With his light as a feather backpack on his back, he wandered over to Percy who was trying to help McGonagall sort the Gryffindors into their coaches.

They weren't having much luck as all of the houses seemed to be mingling and mixing and nobody was quite sure who was where.

"Uh, Gryffindors this way!" Percy was shouting, struggling to be heard over all the exciting chatter. Nobody was listening to him, they were too busy engaged in their own conversations and couldn't give a rat's tail about anything else.

"I said ALL GRYFFINDORS OVER HERE!" Percy tried to bellow. Oliver felt sorry for him. Percy's voice had never quite reached puberty and it came out rather high pitched, like a squeak.

Oliver couldn't stand it any longer. He had always been impatient and this was getting ridiculous. 

"**ALL GRYFFINDORS REPORT OVER HERE NOW!" **he screamed so loudly that not just the Gyrffindors turned around to listen but every other student there did too.

Slowly but surely, all the Gryffindors started making their way over. Percy looked at Oliver with a very thankful expression on his face and the other school leaders looked equally as grateful, each taking advantage of the current silence, ushering their own kids into place.

It seemed that very few people were actually awake so they needed quite a lot of prodding and poking to get into their coaches, with their luggage safely on board also.

Oliver and Percy ushered the first 12 Gryffindors in sight onto one coach and looked at the remaining one, a shy girl whom Oliver had never really gotten to know all that well.

"Okay," he said. "Um, Margaret, you're going to have to come with Percy and I sit in a mixed coach. Is that cool?"

She nodded, seemingly unsure.

"Don't worry, it's not like they're scary." Oliver felt like he was reassuring a five year old for some reason.

"I know," she muttered under her breath.

Oliver ignored Margaret's icy cold tone of voice and lead her and Percy to the other remaining students. Luckily there were only eleven of them so they were able to all fit in the last coach that pulled up just as the others started making their journey.

Feeling gentlemanly, Oliver opened the coach door and let each other person hop on before he did. He tried very hard not to look down on the Slytherins as he watched two of them board and could not help but feel very surprised when he noticed that the last girl to slip on board this coach was Kali Ravenell.

When she saw Oliver all she did was groan and let him push in front of her.

Rolling her eyes, she boarded quickly after him, giving him a nice 'accidental' shove in the back and swung the door closed behind them.

Though the coaches had not looked tiny from the outside, Kali couldn't believe just how spacious they were on the inside. The interior was all lovely and soft and there was enough room to wander around and actually pace up and down the aisle.

Seats lined the left and the right sides of the coach and Kali felt quite embarrassed as she stumbled down the aisle which was so big that she had nothing to hold onto as they bumped along. Eventually she reached the last seat, which happened to be next to her very favourite person.

She sat down quietly, putting her suitcase underneath her legs.

She tried hard not to eavesdrop but couldn't help but overhear Oliver whisper to his friend Percy, "Can we swap seats?"

Trying not to be insulted but knowing that she would have probably asked the same thing had someone been on her other side, she watched as Percy gave Oliver a strange look and said no.

The journey to Hogsmeade was about thirty minutes and during that whole time, Kali and Oliver avoiding looking at each other completely. In fact, the only time they had any communication was when they reached a very sharp turn and Oliver almost fell on top of her. As he nudged into her shoulder, he gave a very sharp elbow deliberately and Kali pushed him off her with as much force as possible, her shove equally as deliberate. She crossed her arms for more effect.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, they reached Hogsmeade and everyone quickly hopped off the coaches, excited and beginning to wake up.

"Wow" everyone muttered as they stared in awe of their home for the next week.

It was certainly a wonder to look at. The hotel was so tall that it seemed to go on forever and the possibility that it might actually crossed Kali's mind. Soft light flowed from the windows giving off a very happy and warm feeling. It was something Kali was not entirely adjusted to and she felt rather shaky and nervous when she thought how wonderful this experience was going to be.

After the initial shock had worn off, everyone started wandering around looking for any friends they had lost on the way.

Someone must have signaled to start walking inside because soon enough they were all marching into the hotel. Kali wasn't sure who they were following but she just straggled along anyway.

"Wow, this is going to be great!" Christina piped up next to her.

"I know," agreed Kali.

"We have got to do something really bad while we're here," Christina said. "You know seeing as we are graduating soon."

"I suppose," Kali replied quietly. Though she had always been pretty outgoing and loud, for some reason she just wanted to slip quietly into the background at the moment. Causing a riot wasn't high on the list of her priorities.

"Oh my," Christina said, suddenly dropping her suitcase. "You're still thinking about that Wood boy aren't you?"

Kali didn't answer.

"Kali!" she groaned. "Get over it!"

Kali frowned. "No. His horrible little Chaser said something very horrible to me and now he has gotten himself involved. I had to sit next to him all the way here and he was just so horrible! He kept shoving me on purpose and kept trying to make me feel miserable! Well it worked because I am feeling really horrible now!" 

She was so near tears now that Kali didn't even notice that she'd just used the word 'horrible' about four times in the one speech.

Christina looked on sympathetically. "Aww Kali," she gave her a hug. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise he was being that hor… uh, cruel. As soon as we get settled in, I'll go track him down and give him a good bashing all right?"

Kali tried to laugh. Somehow as much as she hated Wood, the last thing she felt like doing was bashing him up.


	5. Chapter Five

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Author's Note: New Years Resolution: Finish stories I start. That means I am going to do my very best to finish writing the story everyone is requesting… "Hermerella". I re-read it last night and vaguely got myself into the mood so I endeavour to finish it once I have finished this one here. If you want to be notified whenever I update one of my stories please go here: **http://outtatune.diaryland.com/notifylist.html** and type in your e-mail. Besides that, I uploaded 5 freakin chapters to the story "Changing" last night so after you have read this chapter, off you go and read that for me (I didn't write like 25 pages for nothing people). Thanks for the great reviews dudes, keep rockin. 

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Chapter Five…

The hotel was certainly luxurious. Oliver made his way through the crowds of people to the bubble elevator (he had heard about these at the Quidditch World Cup) and in he hopped, trying to fit in with the other twenty people.

He pushed his way to the back, hoping there was more room back there and found himself being shoved very hard into a wall.

Oliver turned around wondering whether that shove was deliberate. Then he saw Kali and her friend Christina.

His face fell. Why oh why did he keep running into her like this? There were sixty students here and the only one he seemed to constantly see over and over again was Kali. The one he wished least to see. 

"Did you just push me?" he demanded.

Kali looked up in surprise. She obviously hadn't seen him there. "No," she spat out. "I'm not that low."

"Right," he said suspiciously. He noticed the glance Christina gave him. She looked like she would murder him if he stuck around any longer. Luckily, the elevator went 'pop' and they arrived on the twenty ninth floor, the floor Hogwarts had booked.

A little funny elf creature dressed in a formal suit was standing there ready for the first group of students. 

"Hello," he greeted. "My name is DW Wokly. I will be assisting you to your respective rooms." 

The students looked at this strange little creature in awe and puzzlement. Nobody quite knew what to make of him so they just didn't say anything at all. DW pulled a little string on his black top hat and a parchment appeared out of nowhere. Oliver leaned forward as much as he could to try and see what was written on it.

"K Ravenell and C Armstrong, room 29!" he barked, looking around for them. "Your luggage is in there already, here's your keys!" he threw a little brass key at them as they hesitantly made their way down the corridor looking at the numbers on each door.

Oliver waited patiently as each pair of students were sent off to a different room until finally it was just him and Percy.

"So you must be O Wood and P Weasley?" DW said.

Oliver nodded. Duh.

"Here are your keys then, have a nice stay!" DW continued, throwing the keys in Oliver's face and snapping his fingers. Just like that, he was gone.

Percy looked at Oliver and shrugged. "Let's go see what our room looks like then…"

They walked straight to the end of the corridor where the last room was. Struggling to get the tiny brass key in the door the creaky door finally gave way and let the two boys in. 

"Nice…" breathed Oliver.

His family had never been poor so they'd been on a few nice holidays and he'd stayed in at least half a dozen various hotels before but none compared to this one. When Dumbledore had said he liked to travel in style he wasn't kidding. It was just as formal as the outside and for a second Oliver feared how the room would look after he and Percy had stayed there. Perhaps it would be a good idea to take a photograph of the place now before the Hurricane Oliver hit.

"It's nice," said Percy, repeating just what Oliver had said.

"Sure is," he replied. "Should we unpack?" he asked gesturing towards the suitcases sitting neatly in the corner of the room.

The room was painted a nice cream colour with maroon furnishings. Reminded Percy immediately of a softer coloured Gryffindor room. There were two double beds, one against each wall and plenty of storage space for their belongings. On the beds were comfortable looking blankets and doonas and even complimentary sherbet lemons. Oliver and Percy next inspected their ensuite which was big and pristine, fluffy white towels piled up on a chair, huge spa bath with multiple streams of bubbles… they began to wonder whether they could just stay in their rooms all day and lap up the luxury.

After they had 'unpacked' which for Percy and Oliver required dumping the contents of their bags on the bottom of the wardrobe floor, they decided to go and say hello to their neighbours.

To their left was a room with Margaret and another Gryffindor Sandy. After saying a quick hello and being promptly kicked out, they decided to sneak a look to see who was to their right.

Percy knocked politely and a familiar sounding 'who is it?' responded.

"It's Percy Weasley, just wanted to say hi!"

The door opened slowly. There stood Kali and Christina, giving him and Oliver dubious looks.

"Oh… you're next door to us," Oliver choked out, hardly believing the coincidence.

"You're kidding me aren't you?" replied Kali.

Oliver shook his head. 

"Right then, see you later!" Christina went to slam the door in their faces.

"Wait!" Oliver put his hand against the door and being so strong, Christina had no chance of pushing it closed.

Oliver surprised himself. What was he doing? Suddenly it was like he had no control over his mouth. Before he knew it he was asking to talk to Kali alone and leading her back to his room.

Percy and Christina both tried to protest but realised that Kali actually wanted to talk to Oliver too so they let it slip giving each other confused glances.

Once in the privacy of the other room they took a seat, one on each bed and looked at each other not knowing quite what to say.

For the first time since they had ever actually spoken Oliver noticed how pretty Kali looked. He was still mad at her and he still wanted to know why she'd gone off her tree about Katie Bell but his anger at her had slightly lessened.

He tried to concentrate on anything but her looks so he looked straight at her eyes not wanting to take in the rest of her. 

Kali's eyes were dark green and the most amazing sight he'd ever seen. They were just so deep. But unlike anyone else he looked at who's whole character seemed to shine from their eyes, Kali was different. From looking at her he couldn't tell anything from her eyes because they seemed just so closed off. Like they'd stopped feeling anything.

Kali sat there staring back at Oliver, feeling nervous and tugging at the end of her sweater. She hated it when people looked you right in the eye, it always made her feel uncomfortable as if they were expecting something she just couldn't provide them. Emotion.

"Well Kali… I just wanted to apologise," began Oliver. She raised an eyebrow. "I have said a lot of things out of line and I just wanted to get the air clean you know, while we're here and all, living right next to each other so we better not try and murder each other during the night. I figured we better try and get along, not as friends or anything, but not as arch enemies either."

Oliver hoped his reverse psychology would work. He hoped she'd explode with a 'Oh I'm so sorry too Oliver!' and tell him exactly what it was Katie had said.

Unfortunately Kali could see right through this. "It's not working," she said with a slightly amused smile on her face.

Oliver laughed. "I guess not. But come on, I think I'll have nightmares of you coming to kill me if we don't at least try to work it out."

For a split second he saw fear in Kali's eyes. He'd struck something inside her but what?

"Okay," she replied smiling. Oliver noticed how perfect and petite her smile was. He went to comment on it but realised that would definitely be moving too fast.

"You know," she continued. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have hit Katie. It was wrong, no matter what someone does to you, you shouldn't be violent. I understand that now because believe me, I have felt regret."

Oliver's expression of determination softened. "What did she say to you then? It must have been pretty harsh…"

Kali opened her mouth and took a deep breath. Maybe if she told him she'd feel better herself. Maybe Oliver might understand. She just had to reach inside and pull out some courage, if there was any left inside of her that was. No, she had to do this. She had to take a chance.

And so Kali decided she'd tell him…

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Author's Note: Ahaha, I love cliffhangers. I've sort of worked this up a lot, "what did Katie say?" and it's really not all that worthy of this sort of drama, hehe. So I'm kind of scared the next chapter will be a bit of a let down. Oh well, you'll find out all in good time. Oh and if you have read 'Three Little Words' you would have noticed my 'Bubble Elevator' and 'DW Wokly' tribute, hehe. Just thought I'd throw in something more offbeat.   
  
So anyway, off you go, sign up for my notify list!

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